Yorkshire business leaders recognised in New Year’s Honours

Sandy Needham, Sharon Jandu, Stuart Clarke

Three familiar faces in Yorkshire’s business community are among those recognised in the New Year’s Honours list.

Asian business leader Sharon Jandu, technology connector Stuart Clarke and former Chamber boss Sandy Needham are among the 1,107 people recognised in the first honours under King Charles III.

Jandu told TheBusinessDesk.com it was “a privilege” to have been given an OBE for services to international trade.

Jandu is the founder of the Northern Asian Powerlist and Northern Asian Power Think Tank, and a director of the Yorkshire Asian Business Association.

“The one thing that I really do feel proud of is how we’ve really brought the community together,” she said. “If you look at the Northern Asian Powerlist, it has got people from all different backgrounds and parts of the community, from businessmen to social changemakers who work with women fleeing domestic violence. They are all in the same room on the same platform, celebrating the success of the community.”

Jandu is part of a trade mission heading to India in the first quarter of 2023, and plans to have a busy year with the think tank.

“We want to influence policy rather than be recipients of policy. So it’s great being recognised, but how do you put that recognition to some use? We are getting the people that are making those changes together with people with those lived experiences with five events lined up at the House of Commons next year.”

Leeds Digital Festival founder Stuart Clarke, who will receive the MBE for services to the technology sector, said it was a “big surprise” to be honoured.

He said: “I always talk about the Leeds Digital Festival being a collaborative effort by the city and I see this award as an extension of that – it’s not down to one person to put on the festival.

“I like to see it as a collaborative honour for everyone and that’s really important because the festival has been recognised more widely over the last few years nationally and internationally, so it’s lovely it has been recognised by central government in the New Year’s Honours.”

Leeds Digital Festival has grown from 50 events in 2016 to more than 250 events over two weeks this year, and Clarke is proud to have kept the original culture of being “as open and inclusive as possible”.

“There’s two key things – let’s celebrate and make more noise about the tech sector in Leeds and the North, and also let’s collaborate and bring people together.

“We’ve heard so many stories over the years that people found business partners, suppliers, staff, jobs and training.

“The more we collaborate and the more we come together, the more successful we will be as a region and as a tech sector.”

Among those to be receive a CBE were Lesley Batchelor, an export champion and entrepreneur who is recognised for services to international trade, and Gillian Wilmot, chairman of Sheffield-headquartered Zoo Digital. Wilmot was singled out for services to business, entrepreneurship and to the prevention of problem gambling.

Afshin Amirahmadi, of Leeds, who is managing director of Arla Foods UK, was made an OBE for services to the dairy industry.

Sandy Needham

This honour was also awarded to the chairman of the International Trade Forum, William Alan Beckett, of Sheffield, for services to manufacturing and to exports and former chief executive of West and North Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce, Sandy Needham, of Leeds, for services to business and to the economy.

Managing director of Cryer & Stott, Richard Holmes, from Castleford, has become a MBE for services to the British food industry.

And Robert Geoffrey Oliver, from York, formerly chief executive officer of Construction Equipment Association, has received the same honour for services to the construction equipment manufacturing sector.

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